Southern Expidition update

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LanceCruiser

LanceCruiser

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Southern Expedition update

LanceCruiser got stuck while showing off in the parking lot at Crater Lake, Oregon. Sailor had to pull him off with the winch! I have video for YouTube!
 
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Note do not let Sailor use your computer, or he will type stupid $#!t on it. Yes I did get a little stuck, but Icould have used my shovel, but it was burried under my ****.
We are in Merril Oregon now, maybe going to check out the lava fields here.
 
Sorry, we have a bit of internet here at Pappy's Dinner, it will be too slow to post on you tube. I'm trying to finnish off this monster chiken fried steak and eggs. The weather has been great so far.
 
Update needed!
 
Weeeere baaaack!

It was't far into our 5000 km road trip that spanned 4 states, 3 National Parks, 2 National monuments and innumerable Wal Marts, that I learned Lance was incapable of navigation. He also had a recurring propensity for getting stuck at the most inoppertune moments. I now sport a 'Lance Cruiser Recovery vehicle' logo on my back window! Of course, I had no issues whatsoever (ahem- Well we wont mention locking my keys in the car in the middle of Death Valley. At night..) I took cryptic notes as we blundered our way along with no schedule or expectation. Lance asked me: "what's the plan?" I replied: "As long as we wheel Death Valley I don't give a rats ass!"

It all began at a boat yard on Sunday, doing a little last minute Prep. Lance struggled to fix an exhaust rattle and change all drive line fluids while I had a beer and tried out the car buffer I won at the last CC meeting.
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Then it was an early call at Chez Lance to find him highly organized and very realistic about the volume of supplies and sundries that would fit in an HDJ 81. Strangely, my offers of renting him a U Haul were rebuffed impolitely!
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Mercifully, we were off! Road trip Baby! Across the border with dignity largely intact, we filled up in Blaine, $2.89/USD/USG. Off to Tacoma to visit friends and Lance treated to lunch at a Mexican joint which was rather good. We headed south from there to Salem Or. where I first discovered Lance's desire to visit every Wal Mart in the Union! Fueled ($2.89) We went for a steak dinner and then for dessert, bact to Wal Mart! We cruised on the I5 at around 65 mph which worked out to around 2150 rpm in my truck, a bit higher in Lances due to gearing differences. Stopped for the night at a road side rest called Cabin Creek at exit 38 just N. or Sutherlin Or. Happily, Lance's fears of the reputation of these rest areas he discovered while watching the film " Something about Mary" were not realised, though there was a little orange stray cat chasing (herding?) a group of tame deer!

Tuesday started with Steak and eggs in Sutherlin where we somehow got the idea to Divert to Crater Lake National Park, an excellent decision as it took us down US rt. 138 past the Colliding Rivers Park, the confluence of the North Umpqua and North Rivers. The sun was out and the colours were quite vivid. I would love to come back and raft this one! We topped up in Diamond Lake ($2.75) and reached the park, which has a nice walking trail, picnic area and washrooms. The scenery along HWY 138 was awesome with many riverside camping areas. Its worth a look
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Off to Crater Lake. Unfamiliar territory plus Lance's GPS equals over an hour of screwing around before we found the approach road which was clear but with up to 10 feet of snow piled on each side. A steep climb into the Crater Lake villiage caused me to watch my pyro. The heavily loaded truck, combined with the high altitude was a total dog and I had to drop out of overdrive and feather the throttle to keep it under 1300 degrees F. My transmission temp came up a bit but was still around 180 degrees F. so no worries. Crater Lake is in a Volcano and has amazing scenery. The Clarity of the air was awesome.
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There were a bunch of Islands in Crater Lake, one is called 'Phantom Ship' but it wasn't visible from our viewpoint. The Ranger there was very helpful, the main entrance of her building was totally snowed in. Then Lance got stuck in the position pictured here. I had to winch him off. Lance stole the video of the extraction, hopefully he'll man up and allow it to be posted up here? It is really funny. On the way out of the park we saw Mt. Thiessen which was a prelude to the stunning alpine scenery we saw later in the journey.

Lance humiliating himself and the Land Cruiser community in general...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39566314@N08/4412648391/
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After this humiliating incident we decended the grade on the 62 through Klamath Falls to Merrill Ore. where we went to a small diner for a country fried dinner, Waitress informed us that we should check out the Lava Beds National Monument. This is just across the California border near Tulelake. I got pulled over by a local police officer because I had my fog lights on. Nice guy- sent us on our way with some ideas for the area. We pulled into the park after dark and found a pull out to camp. It was rather cold overnight with a lot of ice on the truck in the morning, which was quite beautiful with the fog laying heavy on the desert valley floor. We hiked around a bit, checking out the volcanic formations and caverns- quite interesting.
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While in the park we visited several sites, but the highlight was finding a turn off that left the park on a 'not maintained' road that led in to the Modoc National Forest. This extended for miles across open, rolling land with many interesting volcanic rock piles. We did a little rock crawling here- I bumped my (Jasons') slider a bit and Lance ripped off his LR fender flare. I would like to explore this area more as there is nothing around for miles and lots of interesting formations to crawl with terrific views and wildlife.
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Overall I enjoyed the Lava Beds but found the wheeling in the surrounding areas more of a draw. The terrain is all open with excellent views and little to no pinstriping! Lots of challenging rocks to crawl and they are volcanic so the traction is awesome. Very technical- you must carefully pick your line and strategy or you will find yourself re-arranging sheet metal! Departing the park and returning to HWY 138 we spotted a high narrow ridge with a primitive road leading up to a peak that looked like it afforded some excellent vistas. Up we went! Of course we didn't plan on how to get back down so we simply drove down the steep hill side- Another adantage to having no set itinerary! The terrain was amazingly spongy - You turn NW East of the Glass Mountain / Long Bell sin, the hill is very apparent, It would be a great place to camp! Off to Nevada and the Black rock desert!
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Here are some assorted shots of our time in Northern California. Lance gettin sideways and my MC Hammer pants... Make that MC Pantload pants! Just so you know- that is a coffee cup in my hand, not Lances' hair dryer!

and a strange video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDQQreNMbvk
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Im sure you are all impressed, as I was, at the amount of territory we covered here. I realized later it was because there was no Wal Mart in the neighbourhood. Putting a Wally World sign in front of Lance is like waving crack in front of an addict! I digress...

Next stop Alturas Ca. about 60 miles down the 138. There we fueled ($3.19) and got directions to a restaurant in the next town. There were a bunch of US Marines waiting for their transportation there who were very interested in the HDJ81's- This was a source of amusement throught the trip. Proceeded to Cedarville CA. for French Burgers at the Country Hearth restaurant- Highly reccommended. Pulling out of Cedarville we found the road we wanted to take to Gerlach Nevada, (Rt. 34) had been long de-activated and un maintained. We pushed on and had to space out due to copious dust in pitch darkness. My Depo headlights with PIAA super bright bulbs really made the difference here on this torturous, winding road with floods and washouts. I would like to drive this one in the daytime in the future as I am sure the scenery is spectacular along it's 82 mile length. Two issues came up here: 1) as I crested a ridge at 80kph the following dip was under 2 feet of water! Huge splash and a scare, 2) I rounded a curve at 80 kph to see a large animal which I should have driven right into but I swerved. This put me on the shoulder in the dark- thank christ there was a bit of a run off where I was able to get the truck back in line before regaining the road or I would have bitten it right there. This was where the first 'urgent' use of my collapsible trail potty occurred! We arrived at Gerlach Nv. in the darkness and ventured out onto the dry lake,or Playa, which is an incredibly disorienting experience in pitch darkness. We eventually camped in a clearing that turned out to be the dump for Gerlach. I parked right next to a huge heap of manure! Cold desert night. Here are 2 pics of that night on the Playa-
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Awoke early to the sounds of bulldozers in the garbage pile next door. Also noticed a peculiar, revolting odor. Naturally, like any man would, I immediatly blamed Lance. This was a valid accusation as he had broken out his own 'jiffy biffy' and was acquitting himself manfully, considering the cold temperature and early hour. Then I realized I hadn't had a shower in several days. Barf.
Moving on now- We headed into Gerlach to top up and fill the water tanks and camp showers. We intended to enter the Black Rock Desert but got side tracked by yet another interesting trail heading up a small mountain. Since I am a total 'view whore', we elected to head up to see what was what. Awesome desert vistas and high winds- Lances' Flare totally succumbed to his 37" Swamper and was retired to the cargo bay for the rest of the voyage! This hill is at the crux of Rt.34 & Rt.447.


YouTube - Land Cruiser in Gerlach
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The Black Rock Desert. This is the site of the annual Burning Man Festival which occurs at summers end. We entered the park along Soldiers Meadow Rd. We stopped along the way for some hiking and rock hounding- the place is a geologists wet dream! We then ventured out on the Playa where we found a burned out Camaro- Made me think of our trails back home!
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